At-Risk Indicators Help Valley Identify Potential Dropouts
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Editor's Note: This is the third in a four-part series on the formation and administration of the Dropout Prevention Committee. The committee includes a group of community and school officials from Tippecanoe Valley, Warsaw and Wawasee school corporations with the stated goal of reducing the dropout rates at those schools. The committee plans to put graduation coaches in high schools and mentoring programs in elementary and middle schools.
*****At-risk indicators can help school officials determine which students need more help.
Tippecanoe Valley High School Assistant Principal Mike Schmidt said his school is looking for the Dropout Prevention Committee's programs to improve graduation rates and provide student services to allow students to graduate.
Those services could be tutoring, mentoring and making sure a student is taking the appropriate courses. Counseling also is a big part of it. The graduation coaches will try to help students "develop their future story," Schmidt said.
To determine which students to target, the schools have at-risk indicators from the state and local level to help. If a student hits eight out of 12 indicators, that student would be a candidate.
Some of the at-risk indicators include mobility, reading level, attendance, failing classes, being behind in credits, disciplinary problems at school or involvement with the probation department or law enforcement, according to TVHS Principal Kirk Doehrmann. Data also shows that if a student fails math, English or science at the sixth-grade level, their ability to graduate also is dampened, he said.
While the committee was developing ways to address the dropout rate, Doehrmann said they interviewed students about why they dropped out.
"It was really eye-opening to the committee members who don't work at the schools," he said.
Schmidt said many students fell behind in their homework and then struggled to catch up. All the homework they did was at school. They didn't get the concept that left undone, homework piles up.
Another reason, Schmidt said, was that students didn't have parents to push them. They're just kids so they think everything will turn out fine. Their parents have a car, job and a roof over their head, so it'll be fine with them too.
Valley has had an intervention program for the past four years. With it in place, Doehrmann said Valley's graduation rate over the past four years has improved. The intervention program also will help Valley identify students that could benefit from a graduation coach.
As for the mentoring program, Doehrmann said, "When we talk about K through eight, we're looking at help through different agencies."
The middle school will utilize Big Brothers/Big Sisters for about 10 students, he said. Kids Hope will work with the elementary schools.
Kids Hope utilizes local churches to provide mentors to students. It's a national organization that has been around for several years.
Interpersonal relationships can be a huge benefit to keeping students on track, Doehrmann said. The mentors will work with students on everything from appropriate behaviors to good academics.
Mentors will meet with their student for one hour each week. Doehrmann said it would be ideal if the mentor could stay with a student during their full academic career, but the program will take whatever time someone wants to offer.
Schmidt said, "I think the way we have it set up ... people are going to see an improvement. Students are going to take to this. It will benefit the community. Students are going to leave with a diploma in their hands."
